The Hindu : New Delhi News : Muck trains at DMRC sites

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Muck trains at DMRC sites

Staff Reporter

Currently operating at INA, Jor Bagh, Hauz Khas and Saket

Photo: PTI

The follower: A muck train clearing the debris at a Metro tunnel in south Delhi on Sunday.

NEW DELHI: After the tunnel-boring machines dig into the earth to create space for rail tracks at the underground stretches of the Delhi metro rail construction sites, muck trains gather the trail of soil and stones that TVMs leave behind.

With two muck cars and a segment trolley, these trains run at 10 km per hour and carry about 480 cubic metres of muck a day.

These trains are about 5.3 metre long and 1.3 metre wide. They are currently operating near INA, Jor Bagh, Hauz Khas and Saket construction sites.

“Muck trains follow the TVMs. When the TVMs move ahead boring the tunnel, a conveyor connected to the centre of the cutter head of the TBM delivers the muck to these trains. The trains carry the muck outside from the TBM area, where the cars are lifted by cranes and the muck is deposited in muck tanks. Dumpers then carry the muck away from the construction site to a pre-designed dumping yard in the night to avoid disturbance to the public during daytime,” said a DMRC official.

In the first phase of metro construction, the muck trains were run by diesel locomotives, but for the second phase, environment-friendly battery-run locomotives are being imported from Hong Kong.

“The drivers of these trains are given special training for 15 days inside the tunnels so that they can get acquainted with the working environment and the new trains undergo a trial run on a temporary 100-metre-long track. To keep the trains in working condition, an electrical engineer is always available at the site with a team of technicians,” the official added.

He said experienced Thai muck train drivers were being used presently. “About 11 muck trains are working round the clock on the underground section of the Central Secretariat-Gurgaon corridor. Some more are expected soon on the Airport Express Link and the Central Secretariat-Badarpur section when the TBMs start functioning there.”

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